Kin selection and male androphilia in Samoan fa'afafine

The Kin Selection Hypothesis for male androphilia posits that genes for male androphilia can be maintained in the population if the fitness costs of not reproducing directly are offset by enhancing inclusive fitness. In theory, androphilic males can increase their inclusive fitness by directing altruistic behavior toward kin, which, in turn, allows kin to increase their reproductive success. Previous research conducted in Western countries has failed to find any support for this hypothesis. The current study tests this basic prediction of the Kin Selection Hypothesis for male androphilia by comparing the altruistic tendencies of androphilic and gynephilic males in the Polynesian nation of Independent Samoa. In Independent Samoa, androphilic males are known locally as fa'afafine. Altruistic tendencies were assessed using a Kin Selection Questionnaire. Comparisons of the altruistic tendencies of fa'afafine and gynephilic men revealed that these two groups did not differ in terms of their overall generosity and allocation of financial resources toward kin, nor did they differ in terms of general neediness or financial resources obtained from kin. Fa'afafine did, however, report greater avuncular tendencies than gynephilic men. Although the greater avuncular tendencies of fa'afafine support the basic prediction of the Kin Selection Hypothesis for male androphilia, further research is needed before one can conclude that these elevated tendencies represent a specially designed adaptation for promoting the fitness of kin. We discuss a number of sociocultural factors that might promote the expression of avuncular tendencies by androphilic males in Independent Samoa. Our results underscore the importance of testing functional hypotheses in evolutionarily appropriate environments.     

Monetary exchanges with nieces and nephews: a comparison of Samoan men,women, and fa'afafine

Androphilia refers to sexual attraction and arousal to adult males, whereas gynephilia refers to sexual attraction and arousal to adult females. The kin selection hypothesis for male androphilia suggests that androphilic males have been selected to act as “helpers-in-the-nest,” caring for nieces and nephews and, by extension, increasing their indirect fitness. Previous research has demonstrated that Samoan male androphiles (known locally as fa'afafine) exhibit significantly higher altruistic tendencies toward nieces and nephews compared to Samoan women and gynephilic men. Elevated avuncular tendencies must translate into real-world avuncular behavior if they are to have any impact on the fitness of nieces and nephews and the uncles themselves. The present study examined whether Samoan fa'afafine exhibit higher altruistic behavior toward nieces and nephews compared to women and gynephilic men. We used money given to, and received from, oldest and youngest siblings' sons and daughters as a behavioral assay of kin altruism. Compared to women and gynephilic men, fa'afafine gave significantly more money to their youngest siblings' daughters. No group differences were observed for money received from nieces and/or nephews. There were no correlations between number of children parented and monetary exchanges with the niece and nephew categories examined, suggesting that childlessness cannot account for why fa'afafine give more money to their youngest siblings' daughters. These findings are consistent with the kin selection hypothesis for male androphilia.     

Trends in surface elevations of American Samoa mangroves

Rates of change in elevation of mangrove surfaces, determined from observations of changes in the height above the mangrove surface of stakes, generally inserted through the organic peat layer to reach consolidated substrate, were measured in one fringe and one basin mangrove wetland on Tutuila Island, American Samoa. Knowledge of trends in elevation change of coastal wetlands contributes to assessing vulnerability to projected relative sea level rise. The fringe and basin mangroves had rates of change in elevation of −0.6 mm yr⁻¹ (±2.0) and −2.2 mm yr^-1 (±5.6), where a negative result means lowering in elevation. These trends were not statistically significant (P > 0.05) and the error intervals around the point estimates of trends in change in elevation overlap zero for both study sites, meaning that it is not clear if the mangrove surfaces have been lowering, rising or not changing. Despite the large error intervals, likely due to short-term variability and cyclical patterns in sedimentation, results indicate that the fringe mangrove has been experiencing a rise in sea level relative to the mangrove surface as the relative sea level rise rate (+1.65 to +2.29 mm yr⁻¹) has been exceeding the rate of change in elevation of the mangrove surface (−2.6 to +1.4 mm yr⁻¹). It is unclear if the basin mangrove has been experiencing a rise in sea level relative to the mangrove surface. If upper projections for accelerated relative sea level rise in American Samoa occur over coming decades, American Samoa mangroves will migrate landward, where unobstructed, as a natural response to relative sea level rise.

Genetic variability in relocated Père David’s deer (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Elaphurus davidianus</Emphasis>) populations—Implications to reintroduction program

Since 1985, China has established three breeding herds of Père David’s deer: the Beijing Père David’s Deer Park (39°07′N, 116°03′E), the Dafeng Père David’s Deer Nature Reserve (33°05′N, 120°49′E) and Shishou (Tianezhou) Père David’s Deer Nature Reserve (29°49′N, 112°33′E), through reintroductions of about 30–40 founders. Since establishment, all three populations have grown steadily. However, genetic backgrounds in those populations are still unknown. We studied the genetic diversity in Père David’s deer and genetic consequences of population relocations in China. We revealed that genetic diversity was extremely low in Père David’s deer populations in China. Only a single mtDNA D-loop haplotype was found in the deer, furthermore, only five polymorphic microsatellite loci were screened out from 84 pairs of species-transferred primers. Genetic makeup in the three Père David’s deer populations were significantly different (P < 0.01). H _E and allelic richness in the Tianezhou population were the highest (0.54, 2.60, n = 31), Beijing population (0.52, 2.4, n = 125) showed the second highest measures, while the Dafeng population (0.46, 2.39, n = 39) measured lowest. Our results suggest that effective management of a species of low genetic diversity like the Père David’s deer should consider the genetic background of each founder to make sure genetic variations are preserved in both source population and relocated population. Now, the Tianezhou population is the most appropriate source population in China when establishing new Père David deer populations in the wild.

Personal Experience of Schizophrenia and the Role of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Danwei</Emphasis>: A Case Study in 1990s Beijing

Danwei as a cornerstone of Chinese urban society has received great research attention. The relationship between the Danwei and psychiatric patients, however, remains unclear. This article aims to shed light on the subject with an integrated micro–macro approach. It introduces a historical understanding of mental health in urban China under the “economic state in transition” framework. A detailed case study in clinical sociology is provided to reveal the many social factors affecting the experience of a schizophrenic patient and his significant others. A changing role of the Danwei is hypothesized and validated with qualitative data. The Danwei was shown to have changed significantly before the mid-1990s, yet it still played a major role in urban workers’ lives, including those of psychiatric patients, and even more so in people’s expectations. This lends support to the need for a more responsive public policy to address various social issues brought about by economic reform, with the learning of worldwide experiences including “community care,” “social support” and “social rehabilitation.” Implications for social research, policymaking and professional practice are discussed.

Making Sense in Time: Remote Sensing and the Challenges of Temporal Heterogeneity in Social Analysis of Environmental Change—cases from Malawi

This article contributes to the encouraging recent trend toward more critical examination of the linkages between remote sensing and social analysis of environmental change. Using two case studies from Malawi, we explain the importance of thinking about temporal scale when using remote sensing data. Specifically, from our on-the-ground research, we came to appreciate three important issues: (1) multiple causation and multiple temporal scales operating simultaneously—making inference of casual relations between particular social factors and observed land use changes difficult; (2) ‘visible’ vs. ‘invisible’ processes and events; and (3) ‘continuous’ vs. ‘punctuated’ social and environmental processes. We observe that in each case, social differentiation is key to understanding which temporal frames are most relevant in understanding observed land use dynamics. We conclude that, while these are not entirely new observations, research on the applications of remote sensing in social analysis of environmental change could be enriched by more rigorous examination of linkages between environmental change, temporal scale, and the social relations (including social differentiation) that can help to explain how and why particular temporal frames are most salient.

Lévy Flights in Dobe Ju/’hoansi Foraging Patterns

We analyzed data on Ju/’hoansi hunter–gatherer foraging patterns and found that their movements between residence camps can be modeled as a Lévy flight. The step lengths of their movements scale as a power law with an exponent μ = 1.97. Their wait times (residence times) at the camps also scale as a power law (μ = 1.45). A Lévy flight with step lengths μ = 2 is an optimal search pattern for scarce, randomly located targets; thus, the Ju/’hoansi foraging pattern may approach an optimal search in this area of sparse plant and animal resources. These findings affect the application of optimal foraging theory to humans in anthropology and archaeology because they alter the way in which search and travel times should be quantified. These results may also carry implications for the study of other patterns of human movement, such as demic diffusion and migration.

Impact of an alien octocoral, Carijoa riisei, on black corals in Hawaii

In 2001 Carijoa riisei, an octocoral native to the tropical Western Atlantic, was discovered overgrowing black corals in the Au’au Channel in Hawaii. In this paper data from a 2001 survey are reanalyzed and combined with new data from 2003 and 2004 to assess the ecological impact in greater detail. C. riisei differentially affected reproductively mature black coral colonies with maximum impact between 80 and 105 m. The pattern of C. riisei overgrowth on black corals and C. riisei on the substrata appears to be bounded by high irradiance in shallow water and cold temperature in deep water. Evidence suggests that the C. riisei settlement on black corals is facilitated by other epifauna. Once established, C. riisei spreads vegetatively and smothers the coral. The success of the C. riisei invasion appears to be unaided by anthropogenic disturbance and is at least partially attributable to Hawaii’s depauperate shallow-water (<100 m) octocoral fauna.

The Use of Human Tissue

The use of human tissue raises ethical issues of great concern to health care professionals, biomedical researchers, ethics committees, tissue banks and policy makers because of the heightened importance given to informed consent and patient autonomy. The debate has been intensified by high profile scandals such as the “baby hearts” debacle and revelations about the retention of human brains in neuropathology laboratories worldwide. Respect for patient’s rights seems, however, to impede research and development of clinical knowledge in contemporary health care. The Common clinical endeavour argument and a Presumption for beneficial use argument suggest that the use of tissues for research and teaching in contemporary health care can respect patients and their values in multicultural communities where there are provisions for oversight and for opting not to contribute, both of which should respect the diverse views of different ethnic or cultural groups.

“Berry Patch” As a Kind of Place—the Ethnoecology of Black Huckleberry in Northwestern Canada

The Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en of Northwestern British Columbia formerly used landscape burning to manage patches of black huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum), the most important plant resource of their seasonal round. In view of its significance one might postulate that managed sites would conform to a biophysical or ecological type to maximize return for effort. However, a survey of a number of traditionally managed sites indicated that managed sites are characterized by wide variation in biophysical attributes including elevation, aspect and moisture regime, while proximity to fishing sites, village sites, or sites for harvest of alpine resources proved to be a common factor in known historic berry patch sites. We conclude that characterization of the ideal site type for aboriginal V. membranaceum management must include the economy and social institutions of the local First Nations and requires an enhanced appreciation for the sophistication of the strategies and techniques employed in their management and utilization of the species.

Experimenting with Transmutation: Darwin, the Beagle, and Evolution

Detailed analysis of Darwin’s scientific notes and other writings from the Beagle voyage reveals a focus on endemism and replacement of allied taxa in time and in space that began early in the journey. Though it is impossible to determine exactly when Darwin became a transmutationist, the evidence suggests that he was conversant with the transmutational ideas of Lamarck and others and testing (“experimenting” with) them—before he received a copy of Lyell’s Principles of Geology, vol. 2, in November 1832, in which Lyell describes and disputes Lamarck’s theory. To the two rhea species of Patagonia and the four mockingbird species of the Galapagos, we can now add the living Patagonian cavy (rodent) species, and its extinct putatively related species that Darwin collected at Monte Hermoso (Bahia Blanca) in the Fall of 1832, as a replacement pattern absolutely critical to the development of Darwin’s transmutational thinking. Darwin developed his first transmutational theory by adopting “Brocchi’s analogy” (Rudwick 2008)—i.e. that births and deaths of species are analogous to the births and deaths of individuals. Births and deaths of species, as of individuals, are thus explicable in terms of natural causes. Darwin explored these themes and the replacement of the extinct cavy by the modern species explicitly in his February 1835 essay (Darwin 1835a).

The Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics

The Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics (CESG) is a “specialized” or “technology development” center supported by the Protein Structure Initiative (PSI). CESG’s mission is to develop improved methods for the high-throughput solution of structures from eukaryotic proteins, with a very strong weighting toward human proteins of biomedical relevance. During the first three years of PSI-2, CESG selected targets representing 601 proteins from Homo sapiens, 33 from mouse, 10 from rat, 139 from Galdieria sulphuraria, 35 from Arabidopsis thaliana, 96 from Cyanidioschyzon merolae, 80 from Plasmodium falciparum, 24 from yeast, and about 25 from other eukaryotes. Notably, 30% of all structures of human proteins solved by the PSI Centers were determined at CESG. Whereas eukaryotic proteins generally are considered to be much more challenging targets than prokaryotic proteins, the technology now in place at CESG yields success rates that are comparable to those of the large production centers that work primarily on prokaryotic proteins. We describe here the technological innovations that underlie CESG’s platforms for bioinformatics and laboratory information management, target selection, protein production, and structure determination by X-ray crystallography or NMR spectroscopy.

Rattus exulans and the catastrophic disappearance of Hawai’i’s native lowland forest

Paleoenvironmental and archaeological investigations from the ’Ewa Plain of O’ahu provide insight into the problem of understanding lowland native forest loss in Hawai’i. Data from pollen analysis of a pond core record, avian paleontology, and archeology, document a precipitous decline of the native forest starting before Polynesian settlement on the ’Ewa Plain but after Polynesian colonization of O’ahu. It is hypothesized that rats, introduced by Polynesian colonizers, increased exponentially in the absence of significant predators or competitors, feeding on a largely endemic vegetation that had evolved in the absence of mammalian predators. Rats radiated ahead of human colonizers on O’ahu, eating their way through the vegetation, perhaps before the colonizers had encountered much of the pristine lowland forest into which the rats had radiated. This hypothesis is supported by several observations, including the almost complete absence of extinct or extirpated avian faunal remains in archaeological deposits, the present distribution of endemic vegetation in Hawai’i, rat ecology, population biology, and other evidence.

Trust and Memory: Organizational Strategies, Institutional Conditions and Trust Negotiations in Specialty Clinics for Alzheimer’s Disease

Clinicians aim to establish trust during medical encounters because, without it, health consumers may not seek medical care, consider their diagnoses legitimate, or adhere to treatment regimens. This paper examines the identification and treatment of memory loss within two specialty clinics to understand how cultural dynamics, such as organizational ethos and work practices, influence the social fabric of cognitive evaluations. Ethnographic data suggest important historical and cultural differences in the approaches to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Organizational routines, however, support a common goal, that of moving individuals from “potential patients” to patients, and ultimately research subjects, through establishing trust. Although the processes through which trust is potentially achieved, or the social conditions of trust, were similar at the sites, the object of trust was different. Whereas one clinic encouraged trust in collective medical expertise, the other focused on trust in specific clinicians. These conditions affect the clinical consequences of trust, particularly how and when the diagnosis is delivered, use of the AD label and other terminology, and the level of standardization. The individual consequences include perceptions of patients and depictions of the prognosis. Whether cognitive impairment is viewed as a scientific puzzle to be solved or is seen as a chronic illness significantly shapes the organizational processes of clinical evaluation. Alzheimer’s disease, as a cultural object, is a particularly salient exemplar of the clinical negotiation of ambiguous diagnostic categorizations and the unpredictable patient in daily biomedical practice.

The Patient’s View: Issues of Theory and Practice

Almost all the knowledge now produced about psychiatry includes what is called “the patient’s or client’s perspective.” This paper analyzes how this notion has been framed in the discourses on mental health over the last two decades, particularly in mental health research and in anthropology. The very concept of the “patient’s perspective” is a social and historical construct. Despite its remarkable prevalence, the notion remains vague. Mental health research pictures it as a stable attribute of the individual. Anthropologists integrate the contextual nature of the patient view; but they still largely envision the psychiatric patient as a rational actor producing narratives based on common sense. However, in psychiatric practice, the client’s perspective is not something the patient individually produces; it is rather shaped by and in a context. To explore this process, my research investigated interactions between staff and patients in a French community mental health center, and showed that the client’s perspective is the result of a collective process. Further analysis demonstrates that eliciting or producing the patient’s view is sometimes considered a therapeutic goal in itself, since being granted the status of a rational and narrative actor gives access to the most valued model of care, one that is based on partnership. Being an outcome that is negotiated between patients and care providers, the “patient’s view” then becomes a new resource in mental health settings.

A survey of unresolved problems in life cycle assessment

Background, aims, and scope  Life cycle assessment (LCA) stands as the pre-eminent tool for estimating environmental effects caused by products and processes from ‘cradle to grave’ or ‘cradle to cradle.’ It exists in multiple forms, claims a growing list of practitioners and remains a focus of continuing research. Despite its popularity and codification by organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, life cycle assessment is a tool in need of improvement. Multiple authors have written about its individual problems, but a unified treatment of the subject is lacking. The following literature survey gathers and explains issues, problems and problematic decisions currently limiting LCA’s impact assessment and interpretation phases. Main features  The review identifies 15 major problem areas and organizes them by the LCA phases in which each appears. This part of the review focuses on the latter eight problems. It is meant as a concise summary for practitioners interested in methodological limitations which might degrade the accuracy of their assessments. For new researchers, it provides an overview of pertinent problem areas toward which they might wish to direct their research efforts. Having identified and discussed LCA’s major problems, closing sections highlight the most critical problems and briefly propose research agendas meant to improve them. Results and discussion  Multiple problems occur in each of LCA’s four phases and reduce the accuracy of this tool. Considering problem severity and the adequacy of current solutions, six of the 15 discussed problems are of paramount importance. In LCA’s latter two phases, spatial variation and local environmental uniqueness are critical problems requiring particular attention. Data availability and quality are identified as critical problems affecting all four phases. Conclusions and recommendations  Observing that significant efforts by multiple researchers have not resulted in a single, agreed upon approach for the first three critical problems, development of LCA archetypes for functional unit definition, boundary selection and allocation is proposed. Further development of spatially explicit, dynamic modeling is recommended to ameliorate the problems of spatial variation and local environmental uniqueness. Finally, this paper echoes calls for peer-reviewed, standardized LCA inventory and impact databases, and it suggests the development of model bases. Both of these efforts would help alleviate persistent problems with data availability and quality.

Mastery of Mothering Skills and Satisfaction with Associated Health Services: An Ethnocultural Comparison

In this paper, I examine the mastery of mothering skills and satisfaction with associated health services in women who had recently given birth in Montreal (n = 33). I compare experience between women of two distinct ethnocultural groups: Anglophone Euro-Canadian and Anglophone Afro-Caribbean. The overall aim is to discern differentials in the mastery of mothering skills and associated satisfaction with maternal and child health services. The study is framed by neo-Weberian social theory suggesting that modernization and bureaucratization increasingly eviscerate everyday skills and knowledge. These processes also lead to changes regarding what is considered credible ‘authoritative knowledge.’ I found that older Anglophone Euro-Canadians expressed the greatest skill deficits. They attempted to redress these deficits through consultation of professionally authored books, medical Web sites and health professionals. Older Anglophone Euro-Canadians saw these resources as sources of ‘authoritative knowledge.’ They also expressed dissatisfaction with related health services. In contrast, Anglophone Afro-Caribbeans and younger lower-income Anglophone Euro-Canadians expressed satisfaction with their skills. This derived from widespread previous experience with children and more extensive and readily available kith and kin networks. These were considered sources of ‘authoritative knowledge’ in this group. This group expressed less dissatisfaction with health services, as they did not need, or expect, these services to redress skill deficits.

Honeybees, Communicative Order, and the Collapse of Ecosystems

The paper examines the sudden disappearance in the United States of millions of honeybees in managed bee colonies. The major research undertaken in the U.S. concentrates on finding the pathogens responsible. This paper suggests an alternative avenue of research a) that as a result of global warming there is a disjunction between bees pollinating cycles and the life cycle of plants b) that understanding changes in “timing cycles” as a result of global warming is the key to understanding the disappearance of the bees. It notes that Gregory Bateson argued that any condition of ecosystem collapse would be characterized first by a collapse in its communicative order rather, than from changed physical states. The collapse of bee colonies and demise of other pollinators is a seeming confirmation of Gregory Bateson argument. Honeybees are ‘go betweens’ in ecosystemic order. It also argues that an appropriate topology of timing cycles and their recursions would enable better visual comprehension of the heterarchical ‘pattern which connects’, in Bateson’s phrase, and prompt awareness of possible catastrophe in human food supplies.